One of my favorite holiday movies was on the other night as I was trying to work on my books. I had to turn it off so I could really sit down and enjoy it another time and I didn’t even realize it was going to inspire the newsletter this month.

I’m talking about Scrooged! A great movie with a modern twist on Charles Dickens’ classic novel, A Christmas Carol, and a movie that always makes me laugh even though I’ve seen it so many times. It’s over 30 years old!

I’m sure you are familiar with the story and you know all about the three spirits that visit Ebenezer Scrooge (or Frank Cross in the Scrooged version) and they are the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future.

Leave it to me to find a way to mix ghosts and numbers and here we go! As 2019 comes to a close, I want to act as all three of these entities and give you some insight into your year.

The past…

Cue the fog and let’s take a walk into the earlier parts of this year.

You started the year with big dreams and I really hope they panned out! Maybe you signed new clients or opened a new location. Think back over the past 12 months.

Think about all those invoices you sent out. Are they still floating around? Past numbers that aren’t reconciled can really come back to haunt you in the future.

Do you owe anyone money? Pay them!

Did you hire a new contractor back in the 2nd quarter and forget to send them a W-9? Did you move and forget to update your address for the IRS? Is all of your employee information up to date? No fear! You have time to remedy all of this.

Do you have money left in your marketing budget? Can you offer additional services to your existing clients and have them send in a deposit for this year? There’s still time to do business in 2019.

What have you learned from this year? Take your experiences and lessons and use them as you plan for 2020.

The present…

You can do a lot right now to start 2020 off on the right foot.

Buy that new computer, software or printer you need and expense it for 2019.

Send your financials over to your tax accountant so they can give you a good baseline estimate of what you will owe.

Pay your state tax in December (check for limitations surrounding this).

Attend events and network, network, network! Sure, business slows down, but parties ramp up and the conversations are what you need to keep your pipeline flowing.

The future…

Start planning ahead. Can you prepay any 2020 expenses now? Auto insurance? Subscriptions? Memberships?

Are you going to be hiring? Start writing some ads or talk to your network so when the times comes, you are ahead of the game.

Do you have big plans and know you’ll need support? PR? Marketing? Start looking into firms that can help you, do initial research and hold meetings so when the time comes, you’ll be ready to sign on the dotted line.

Sign up for new things and commit early.

Speaking of networking, I was just promoted to Chair of the Professional Services Sub-Group of Beacon Networking for Life and that is my big celebration as I wrap up the last few weeks of the year.

I’m sending you a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Here’s to a prosperous 2020 and a year full of growth.

If I were any more excited, I’d be doing that back handspring that Mary Lou Retton (as Tiny Tim) does in the movie.